Keira Knightley’s shocking new role in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method was originally written for Julia Roberts. The British beauty plays a Russian woman named Sabina who has severe psychological issues and comes between famed psychiatrists Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. The script is based onChristopher Hampton’s 2002 play The Talking Cure.

Knightley recently admitted she almost turned down the role because of its kinky spanking scene, and now it’s been revealed the part was initially penned for romantic comedy queen Roberts.

Cronenberg says, “(Hampton) had written a screenplay for Julia Roberts called ‘Sabina’ and it was for Fox. I think that was 17 years ago and it didn’t happen for whatever reason, and he then asked them if he could have the permission to make a play out of it, so it was really a screenplay first and it was based on many things.”